USITC Releases Shifts in U.S. Merchandise Trade 2015

September 30, 2016
News Release 16-124
Inv. No(s). 332-345
Contact: Peg O'Laughlin, 202-205-1819

Shifts in U.S. Merchandise Trade 2015  (2015 Trade Shifts) is now available on the U.S. International Trade Commission Internet site.

A web-based product, 2015 Trade Shifts provides interactive features, including graphics that allow users to view and refine, as they choose, the official government data presented. 

2015 Trade Shifts:

• focuses on changes in U.S. exports and imports of agricultural and manufactured goods, as well as key natural resources, providing industry and market profiles and trade data for 10 sectors;

• analyzes changes in U.S. bilateral trade with Brazil, Russia, U.S. partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and parties to ongoing negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP, a large proposed regional trade agreement to which the United States is not a party); and

• concludes with a “special topic” section on “Effects of Declining Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas Prices on U.S. Sectoral Trade,” which examines the impact declining energy prices in 2015 had on the U.S. economy and certain specific sectors.

Highlights from the report include:

• In 2015, U.S. total exports fell by $116.0 billion (7.2 percent) from 2014 levels to $1,504.6 billion. The primary reasons for the decrease were declining crude petroleum prices, weak global economic growth that dampened global demand, and continued appreciation of the U.S. dollar. Exports in all but one of the sectors examined declined; the only sector that experienced higher exports was footwear, which increased by $3.0 billion (0.2 percent).

• U.S. general imports decreased by $106.0 billion (4.5 percent), falling to $2,241.7 billion. As with U.S. exports, energy-related products experienced the largest decline by value, with imports of these products falling by $157.2 billion (44.7 percent) to $194.5 billion. Imports in the minerals and metal sector also declined by value. On the other hand, imports from all remaining sectors increased by $67.2 billion in total, with the greatest increases by value occurring in transportation equipment (by $22.5 billion, or 5.6 percent); electronic products (by $11.0 billion, or 2.5 percent); miscellaneous manufactures (by $10.4 billion, or 9.1 percent); and chemicals and related products (by $8.9 billion, or 3.6 percent).

• One of the major factors affecting U.S. trade in 2015 was the decline in the prices of crude petroleum and natural gas. According to the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA), these price declines provided a modest net benefit to the U.S. economy in 2015. The price declines contributed to higher U.S. imports of consumer goods, largely offsetting lower imports of energy-related manufactured goods. Lower prices also contributed to a substantial decline in the value of certain U.S. manufactured goods exports, as global demand for U.S. equipment used in crude petroleum and natural gas production fell and as the value of energy-consuming industry exports also declined. The large decline in the value of exports by U.S. energy-consuming industries masks an increase in the quantity of their exports as well as a rise in certain sectors' global competitiveness due to lower input prices.

Shifts in U.S. Merchandise Trade 2015 can be accessed at https://www.usitc.gov/research_and_analysis/trade_shifts_2015/index.htm.